Each day for the next several days I will be taking excerpts from my book The Church: First Thirty Years, chap. 9 - Principles for Church Growth. EXposition context Acts 3:1-26 The Book of Acts ought to be examined to discover the inspired eternal principles that produced the church in the first century and apply those principles to the contemporary church. Then God will add to the number as it pleases Him. Underlying all the reasons for the tremendous church growth throughout the history of the church are fundamental divine principles for church growth The disciples of the nascent church of the Lord Jesus Christ understood those divine principles that God used and still uses for church growth. Christians in the present-day church must embrace those principles to the glory of God. To embrace the divine principles will ensure the right practice. In chapter three of the Book of Acts, there are two providential events. First, a supernatural miracle and then a sermon by the apostle Peter. To put this in its proper context, a brief summary of events will be necessary. Peter and John, along with other Jews were going to the mid afternoon prayer meeting at the Temple. On their way they come upon a chronically disabled beggar. Peter did not have any money for the beggar but Peter knew that Jesus Christ could heal the disabled man and the man was healed. The cause and effect principle is worthy of attention. What was the cause that produced the supernatural miraculous healing of the disabled beggar? Peter said, “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk” (Acts 3:6). The Lord Jesus Christ was the first cause of the supernatural miracle. The normal natural process of second causes were unnecessary, except for the helping hand of Peter in getting the man to his feet. The biblical text has no ambiguity. “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:16). Jesus Christ was the cause or to put it another way, the author of the healing. Simple Bible doctrine teaches that humans cannot cause or produce supernatural miracles. more tomorrow
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:43:07 +0000
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